1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a card connector, and particularly to a card ejecting mechanism of a card connector.
2. The Prior Art
Following the development of computer technology, a variety of cards, such as PCMCIA cards and memory cards, have been developed to meet different requirements, and a variety of card connectors have been developed to connect the cards to respective mother boards. Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 84210016, 85208532 and U.S. Pat No. 5,456,610 disclose such connectors. Each connector is equipped with an ejector mechanism having a card ejecting plate with at least a card engaging tab for engaging with an inserted card. When the ejector mechanism is activated to eject the inserted card, the card engaging tab exerts a push force on the card.
The card engaging tabs disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 84210016 and 85208532 extend in a direction parallel to an engaged side of the inserted card whereby a uniform ejecting force can be exerted on the card. However, due to the requirement of miniaturization of the card connector, the card ejecting plate becomes thinner and thinner. A card engaging tab arranged in this manner is not rigid enough to sustain the ejecting force and will deform excessively during ejection of the inserted card. When this happens, the card engaging tab can no longer properly perform its intended function.
U.S. Pat No. 5,456,610 discloses a card engaging tab extending in a direction perpendicular to an engaged side of the inserted card, whereby the engaging tab has an increased rigidity. However, in this arrangement, the contact area between the engaging tab and the card is relatively small causing a large amount of stress to be exerted on the card when the card is rejected. Thus, the card cannot be smoothly ejected out of the connector.
Furthermore, none of the prior art card connectors has a card ejecting mechanism which can be positively guided during operation to have a stable and reliable movement to eject the inserted card.
Hence, an improved connector is needed to eliminate the above mentioned defects of current card connectors.